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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28665519">Ready (For The Laughing Gas)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbluejoseph/pseuds/bbluejoseph'>bbluejoseph</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Twenty One Pilots</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - No Band, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Food, Idiots in Love, M/M, Milestones, Moving In Together, Please Just Roll With It, So much flirting, discussion of marriage, its short its sweet its silly idk what else to tell u, mcdonalds, shameless flirting</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:35:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,535</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28665519</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbluejoseph/pseuds/bbluejoseph</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Better?" Tyler asks. His lemonade is half gone.</p>
<p>"Better," Josh says, and he means it. </p>
<p>"Good." Tyler leans forward a little, eyes glinting. "So, about the living room."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ready (For The Laughing Gas)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>uh my new years resolution was to write every day and ive only missed 2 days so far cause i was feelin shitty please be proud of me ? there may be more short fics like this in the future bc i really do wanna write more.</p>
<p>title from zoo station by u2 because i was listening to it while i wrote this</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"You want the number six, right?"</p>
<p>Josh is leaning into Tyler, chin hooked over his shoulder, and if Josh shuts his eyes for a moment he's in Tyler's apartment, and they're laying in bed together on a lazy afternoon, dozing on and off until one of them gets hungry. Josh always either makes something for himself or Tyler pokes and pesters him until he makes dinner for them both. Tyler's an awful cook.</p>
<p>"Yeah," Josh says, opening his eyes again. He'd be more than happy to just stand around with Tyler for a while, but the line's moved up and it's their turn to order. He sighs just a bit before finally moving away from Tyler to find a table.</p>
<p>He doesn't find a table, because it's noon and everyone's packed in this fucking McDonald's like a can of sardines. What Josh does find is a few seats at the 'bar' that are empty, with enough space for them to sit across from one another. There's a family at the other end of the table, a mom with a fillet-o-fish and two kids who seem far too interested in their happy meal toys to care much about their food.</p>
<p>Josh aches a little, remembering when he was smaller than he is now, small like those kids, with his sisters. By the time Jordan was born he was too old for happy meals, or at least that's what he told himself, but he distinctly remembers getting them with Ashley and Abby. Josh would always play with his toy alone for a while, then get bored and annoy his sisters until one of them let him play with them.</p>
<p>Those toys were so small, cheap plastic and screws and, if Josh was lucky, parts that glowed in the dark or made noise or came apart. They were so simple yet so important to him. Josh watches the kids at the other end of the table play with their toys, and he carefully tucks his own memories away in a safe place in the back of his head.</p>
<p>"I can't believe," comes Tyler's voice, sitting down in the barstool across from Josh, setting two huge sodas on the table, "that in this day and age, with the way society and technology has progressed, that fast food chains still think people want to share their tables with strangers."</p>
<p>Josh stifles a laugh as Tyler quickly glances to the family at the other end of the table; the younger of the two is looking at them. He's probably too young to care about what he's saying, but Tyler quickly adds, "Not that there's anything wrong with strangers! Just, I don't want to accidentally flick ketchup on them or something! Josh, you know how I'm a messy eater."</p>
<p>"You're the neatest eater I know," Josh says sweetly. Tyler scowls at him and takes his seat.</p>
<p>Josh drinks the soda Tyler's brought him without bothering to ask what it is. It's coke. Josh much prefers pepsi, but fast food places tend to be an either/or sort of situation when it comes to soft drinks. </p>
<p>Tyler has a lemonade, Josh can tell by the pink creeping up his straw as he takes a sip. Sometimes he hates Tyler, he really does. He's just so <em>pretty</em>.</p>
<p>"So," Tyler chirps, tugging Josh out of his thoughts again. "About the living room-"</p>
<p>"Please," Josh interrupts. "Not that I don't love listening to you discuss interior design, but I'm so hungry I can barely think straight."</p>
<p>Tyler leans his elbows on the counter, face in his hands, practically batting his eyes at him. "You never think straight. Wouldn't be here if you did."</p>
<p>An employee calls a number--Josh can barely tell which one through the noise of the restaurant--and Tyler winks at him, teasing, before getting up with the receipt in his hand. Josh almost flips him off, then remembers the kids sitting a few seats away, and settles for sticking out his tongue.</p>
<p>It's only a few seconds before Tyler returns with a tray of hot food, and Josh forgets everything about the living room. A double cheeseburger and large fries, plus some nuggets to share with Tyler. He wolfs down his burger eagerly, then sips from his drink as it settles in his stomach. He peels open the flimsy plastic lid off a tiny tub of ranch and eats his fries more slowly, dipping once, twice. </p>
<p>"Better?" Tyler asks. His lemonade is half gone.</p>
<p>"Better," Josh says, and he means it. </p>
<p>"Good." Tyler leans forward a little, eyes glinting. "So, about the living room."</p>
<p>Josh rolls his eyes, smiles, nods for him to go on.</p>
<p>"I was thinking, it's kind of bigger than I remember when we took the tour. Not that empty space is bad or anything."</p>
<p>This is their first apartment together. It's been thrilling, all these mundane acts: picking out the furniture, deciding what stays and what goes, even little arguments about what bedsheets they should have. (For the record, Tyler wanted plain boring stripes, and Josh gave in because Tyler promised they could make his old space-patterned sheets into some pillows).</p>
<p>It's not the greatest apartment in the world, really. It's in an iffy neighborhood, and the parking is awful, and Josh is going to have to drive halfway across town to get to work. But he'll have<em> Tyler</em> there with him. Josh is willing to make some sacrifices for that.</p>
<p>"Maybe it grew," Josh suggests. Tyler giggles.</p>
<p>"Maybe it did. We don't have to decide on it right away, but maybe we could put two chairs there? Cozy chairs," Tyler adds, "not like dining room chairs or whatever. And there could be a little table in between 'em, with a houseplant on it. Do you think I'm overthinking it?"</p>
<p>Josh smiles, genuine, and shakes his head. "No, it sounds nice. Sorta like a married couple. Like, two old dudes arguing over the remote or something," he adds quickly. "Y'know?"</p>
<p>Without missing a beat, Tyler takes Josh's hand. He's got ranch dressing on the tip of his pointer finger, but Tyler doesn't seem to care. He looks at Josh, seriously. "J, I know I'm saying this in a McDonald's, and that kind of makes this informal, but you know I'd be happy to be that old married couple with you."</p>
<p>Josh's heart skips, but he can see the bright look in Tyler's eyes, the one that tells him he's being honest. "Are you proposing to me right now? In Ronald McDonald's house?"</p>
<p>Tyler bursts out a laugh, too loud for even a busy fast food restaurant. He slaps his hand over his mouth, but he's unable to stop giggling. Josh's heart swells with pride; he loves making Tyler laugh like this. "Oh, my god,<em> I hate you.</em> I think I deserve the last chicken nugget."</p>
<p>Josh snorts, but doesn't protest as Tyler snatches the last nugget from the box. "So you're ditching the proposal for a deep fried-"</p>
<p>"I'm not proposing," Tyler interrupts. He's chewing with his mouth full. It shouldn't be as cute as it is. "In a fucking <em>McDonald's</em>."</p>
<p>Josh hopes the kids at the end of the table didn't overhear that. "Of course, I'm being ridiculous. If you were doing it anywhere, it'd be a Taco Bell."</p>
<p>Tyler barely stifles another giggle, washes down the nugget with lemonade. "When I propose to you, J, it's not gonna be in a Taco Bell. Maybe a Taco Bell parking lot. If the Taco Bell is, like, next to a beach or something. Brad's gotta be there to take pictures."</p>
<p>Josh's heart clenches, because Tyler said <em>when</em>. He tries to come up with a good response, something sweet, but all that comes out is "Not if I propose first."</p>
<p>"Oh, please. You don't have the guts," Tyler says sweetly, linking his fingers with Josh's.</p>
<p>"You don't think so?"</p>
<p>"Mm-mnh."</p>
<p>"Alright then." Josh lets go of Tyler's hand. He grabs a french fry, soggy from sitting in its own grease, and curls it into a small circle. He holds it out dramatically. "Tyler, would you do me the honor-"</p>
<p>"No," Tyler says curtly, snatching the fry from Josh's hand and popping it into his mouth without a moment's pause. </p>
<p>"Why not?" Josh mocks fake hurt.</p>
<p>"Because this isn't a real wedding ring." Tyler grins, lopsided, goofy, endearing. "Or, it<em> wasn't</em>. Everyone knows you should only propose with an onion ring."</p>
<p>"Of course. My mistake."</p>
<p>They don't talk any more about marriage or growing old together or even the empty space in the living room. But they do hold hands under the table. And really, that's more than enough.</p>
<p>Eventually, Tyler finishes his lemonade, and the french fries are long gone. "Are you ready to go?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, let me just get a refill. You want more of yours?" Josh gestures to Tyler's cup.</p>
<p>The smile on Tyler's face is bright and clear, and Josh knows without needing to ask that Tyler is happy and certain. They're going to get more drinks, and then they're going to their apartment, the one they'd always hoped for, and they'll be <em>together.</em></p>
<p>"Yes," Tyler says, simply, and somehow, it's all Josh has ever wanted. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ive seen all the red/yellow album shit on twitter and so. many. fucking. mcdonalds. memes. i swear i started writing this before that went down lmao</p></blockquote></div></div>
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